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Knight Worlds
s]] The Knight Worlds are technologically-advanced planets within the Imperium of Man that are allied with both the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus yet still maintain feudal cultures and social structures reminiscent of the Terran High Middle Ages during the 2nd Millennium AD. These planets are descended from venerable human colonies that date back to the Dark Age of Technology. Ancient oaths of fealty mean that the Knights are sworn to protect the citizens of these worlds, and also to fight against the Imperium's enemies when called to do so. These worlds are ruled by feudal noble houses called Knight Houses because their members are trained to pilot the massive humanoid war machines known as Imperial Knights. Most Knight Worlds are closely politically and economically linked with a nearby Mechanicus Forge World. There are many hundreds of Knight Worlds scattered throughout the vast empire of Mankind. The bold explorers of Humanity's first interstellar expansion during the Age of Technology travelled far and wide into the galactic wilderness seeking habitable worlds or planets that could otherwise be terraformed to sustain human life. Many of these exploratory fleets were equipped with Knight Standard Template Construct (STC) technology, enabling them to protect the colonies they established. More than fifteen millennia after their ancient ancestors set out into the stars, the distant descendants of these human colonists dwell still on Knight Worlds scattered across the demesne of the Imperium. Though many knightly houses have risen and fallen over the ages, those that remain can trace their heritage back to a time before the birth of the Imperium, and are justifiably proud of their ancestry. Thus is every Knight World heavy with the weight of the past, regardless of its galactic location or level of technological advancement. History -aligned House Raven]] Knight Paladin of House Terryn]] Space Marine Chapter]] Long before the rise of the Emperor and the birth of the Imperium, during the Age of Technology humanity reached out to the stars, eager to occupy new worlds and expand its burgeoning interstellar empire. Vast colonisation starships carried eager human settlers, along with all the resources they might require, and landed on far-flung, often isolated worlds. The first Knight Worlds were founded at the very start of the Age of Technology, when scouts from Terra travelled far through the galaxy seeking planets to use as agricultural worlds to provide food for Mankind's burgeoning population, or as mining colonies to provide the materials needed to fuel their expansion across the stars. Indeed, the Knight Worlds had already been established for thousands of standard years when the Imperium was first founded in the 30th Millennium. When those first human scout ships discovered a suitable planet for colonisation, gigantic spacecraft were dispatched to settle them. These ships were part of Terra's Long March fleets, named after the duration of their voyage and their destination among the stars. The name was apt; each of the Long March colony starships carried thousands of settlers on a decade-long journey to a far distant planet. Upon arrival, the colony ship would land and be immediately cannibalised by the colonists to provide the raw materials needed for their first settlements; there was no hope of return to Mankind's distant homeworld. The struggle for survival on many of these worlds was grim. On some, the settlers found themselves the prey of vicious predators or were attacked by native alien races, which saw the human settlers as invaders. On other worlds, extreme weather conditions or an unbreathable atmosphere made travel outside of domed habitat-zones next to impossible. However, problems like these had been anticipated, and in order to deal with them, the settlers were supplied with Standard Template Construct (STC) databases and fabrication facilities that allowed them to build powered suits of exoarmour. The pilots of these bipedal walking machines were protected by a hard shell of Plasteel and armed with an array of military-grade heavy weapons. The suits proved invaluable: few, if any, natural predators or hostile alien warriors could stand against them, and they could travel through even the most dangerous environment with ease. The towering armoured figures soon became a common sight on the colonies, where they were known as Knights by the settlers, after the legendary armoured warriors and protectors of ancient Terran history. Compelled by the mind-altering effects instilled by the Thrones Mechanicum (a control platform that allows a pilot to interface with their Knight battlesuit), over the course of a few generations, these elite warriors gradually developed a society that evolved into the knightly houses. The Plasteel plates of the original exo-skeleton suits were slowly replaced with more ornate armour made from Adamantium, providing better protection as well as a panoply befitting the wearer's prestige and rank in his society. The more mundane duties that the Knights had once taken part in on the colony worlds -– logging with their mighty Reaper Chainswords, for example, or blasting apart rock ore with their rapid-fire Battle Cannons -– were delegated to those of lesser ranks, allowing the Knights to focus on the arts of war and governorship. Dwelling in tall strongholds, the nobles strove to protect the lives of their subjects (as they now saw the settlers they protected) and to bring order to the primeval maelstrom on the planets that were their homes. The knightly houses proved to be highly successful at both of these things, and soon became a vital part of human society during the Age of Technology. The Age of Strife Tragically, the Age of Technology was doomed to fall and devolve into a shadow of its former glory. Around the time of the 22nd Millennium AD, Mankind's vast galactic empire began to suffer a pandemic of terrible wars and massive invasions, caused, at least in part, by the emergence of the first human psykers and the widespread use of quasi-sentient machines remembered in human myth as the Iron Men. By the 25th Millennium, ferocious Warp Storms had largely isolated the widespread human colonies, and the era that came to be known as the Age of Strife had well and truly begun. During this lamentable era of human history, also sometimes referred to as Old Night, interstellar travel to many of these human-settled worlds was made impossible due to the massive Warp Storms caused by the birth of the foul Chaos God Slaanesh during the Fall of the Eldar. Although vast swathes of the Knight Worlds fell to this storm of death and destruction, some survived, aided considerably by the innate conservatism and resistance to change of the knightly houses. Where other planets welcomed psykers into their midst, and revelled in the luxurious lifestyle that advanced thinking machines could provide, the knightly houses had largely shunned both, preferring to stick with the traditions and technology of the past. Thus, when the violence that presaged the Age of Strife struck, hundreds of Knight Worlds were sidelined or ignored, and took little direct part in the terrible conflicts that tore the rest of humanity apart. Cut off and alone, the knightly houses were quickly forgotten by the other colonies. Left to their own devices, the warrior aristocracy cemented their control and –- encouraged by the psychological manipulations caused by the process of imprinting their suits of Knight armour -– almost all of them enforced neo-feudal systems on their homeworlds. During the latter years of this tumultuous age, the Mechanicum of Mars began sending out many starships that made use of sublight drives to explore the galaxy in search of Standard Template Construct (STC) technologies on lost human colony worlds. In the course of their travels, these slow-moving exploratory expeditions discovered large clusters of human-settled star systems that had once belonged to the ancient interstellar human confederacy that had existed during the Dark Age of Technology. But these worlds had regressed during the Age of Strife to become Feudal Worlds possessed of a pre-industrial, feudal culture dominated by castes of warrior aristocrats. The societies that evolved were built upon concepts of fealty, honour and duty; three things that all Knights hold in the greatest regard. All of the nobles on a Knight World owed their allegiance to a knightly house, whose ruler could call upon them at any time to carry out his commands. Each house could also field large numbers of men-at-arms, either mounted or on foot. The houses also had groups of artificers and technicians who maintained the suits of Knight armour as best they could, and over time, became an integral part of society on all of the Knight Worlds. Sometimes the ruler of a knightly house would come from the same family for generation after generation, but more often than not, the death of an incumbent ruler would lead to a period of political manoeuvring or even outright warfare until a new monarch was selected. Competition between different knightly houses on a planet was just as intense, and although full-scale battles were rare, all strived to outdo their rivals in any way they could, be it in the field of politics, ancient traditions, or contests of their skill at arms. On the Knight World of Higroxias, for example, once every ten standard years, the three major houses compete against each other in a series of trials known as the Honour Games, the winner of which rules the Governing Council for the next decade. As the Age of Strife stretched from centuries into millennia, the Knight Worlds became increasingly insular and inward-looking. Each developed its own titles and terms, so that on one Knight World the ruler of a knightly house would be known as a Lord, while on another they might be called a Ritter or Patriarch, and a noble's stronghold could be known as their castle, fastness or mansion. Without any outside contact, ritual and etiquette started to dominate daily life within the knightly houses, and the only escape from stultifying tradition lay in donning a suit of Knight armour and taking to the field of battle. The Coming of the Imperium After five thousand Terran years, the Imperium of Mankind arose from the ruins of the Age of Strife. Under the guidance of the Emperor, Humanity returned to the stars and began the Great Crusade to reunite Mankind. Nothing was able to stand in the way of the resurgent Imperial armies, and soon, human colonies on planets all across the galaxy were brought within the fold of the newly formed Imperium. When Rogue Trader Militant Jeffers rediscovered a Knight World, Chrysis, for the first time, he quickly realised the knightly houses could be valuable allies for the Emperor's armies. In his reports, he pointed out the Knights' many virtues, and emphasised the world's value to the Imperium as a source of born and bred warriors. The Administratum agreed with Jeffers' findings and set about finding the rest of the long-lost Knight Worlds. Although there were thousands of Knight Worlds at their height during the Dark Age of Technology, the vast majority had been destroyed or died out during the Age of Strife. Now, only several hundred survive, scattered all across the galaxy. Most of the Knight Worlds share certain features, hallmarks of the instructions followed by the original settlers. The nobles themselves occupy sprawling walled strongholds, each a gothic, ancient structure of dusty, lifeless halls and corridors. Many are built on the same location as the first human settlements on the planet and include at their core parts of the giant colony sublight starships used to transport the first settlers to their new worlds. They can vary in size from small keeps to entire cities bordered by vast outer walls. Huge farms or strip-mines surround the strongholds, providing foodstuffs and raw materials for local use and export across the galaxy; the colony ships' purpose was always to generate resources for Mankind. It is in these settlements that the vast majority of Imperial citizens on Knight Worlds live, with few venturing more than a dozen miles from their place of birth. In addition to these settlements, vast grazing herds of beasts wander through the wildernesses between the strongholds -- more often than not, these are huge reptilian creatures that were introduced to the planet as livestock in the Age of Technology. Packs of local predators will often pursue the grazing herds or attack the farms surrounding a stronghold, and it is the duty of the Knights to fight to keep them at bay. Even on planets with less ferocious flora and fauna, the Knights must be constantly vigilant in order to keep the herds and farms safe from alien raiders and rapacious pirates. The Forge Worlds Most knightly houses, though by no means all, are associated with a Forge World, and in return for fighting alongside that Forge World's Titan Legions, they gain access to advanced technology and knowledge that only the Adeptus Mechanicus possess. The association between the knightly houses and the Adeptus Mechanicus dates back to the time of the Great Crusade. When the Knight Worlds were first discovered, the different Imperial organisations that made up the Great Crusade competed ferociously with each other to gain control of the valuable resource the Knights represented. This Machiavellian political contest went on for decades, until the Mechanicum of Mars was finally able to establish their dominance in the right to exploit the Knight Worlds. The Mechanicum were driven in this by a desire to gain control of the archeotech that could be found in abundance on the ancient Knight Worlds, but were also aware that the vast natural resources and military might of the knightly houses could make them a valuable asset. To this end, once they had established their right to exploit the Knight Worlds, they set about making them dependent upon the Mechanicum for their continued survival. At the time of the Great Crusade, the Tech-priests' space fleets found an anarchic galaxy where the ancient confederacy of interdependent human planets no longer existed. The surviving Knight Worlds that were discovered had not retained all of their old technology and had devolved into feudal states ruled by aristocrats. The Tech-priests settled amongst these feudal empires, founding many Forge Worlds, and established contacts with the knightly houses, trading with their worlds and investigating the ancient ruins where surviving technology could still sometimes be found. The ferocious warrior Knights proved invaluable in combating enemies such as marauding Orks and land-hungry Eldar Exodites. In return, the Tech-priests promised technical expertise and helped the nobles to rebuild their planets to the Imperial standard of technology. The most important thing that the Tech-priests brought to the Knight Worlds was the knowledge and technology needed to maintain the nobles' suits of battle armour. Over the course of the Age of Strife, much of the expertise needed to keep the complex Knight armour working had been lost. Local technicians and artificers did their best to maintain the suits, but in many cases, they simply did not have the necessary technical ability. When the Knight Worlds were rediscovered, most had only a handful of operational suits remaining, and even these were in a poor state of repair. The Mechanicum promised to remedy this situation by inducting the local technicians that had been caring for the armour into the Cult Mechanicus, teaching them the skills they needed to keep the Knight armour in good repair. Because of this, nearly all suits of Knight armour now bear the mark of the Cult Mechanicus as a reminder of the debt of gratitude they owe to Mars. Over the millennia, the Forge Worlds have grown powerful, with the Knight Worlds flourishing alongside them. Year-long, the Knights battle and patrol until the great cargo ships arrive from a Forge World, bringing new Knight suits, weapons, tools and mining machinery. They leave with their holds packed with ores and food. The Tech-priests and the Knights are now mutually dependent, and many Forge Worlds form the hub of a tiny empire consisting of a Forge World and its surrounding Knight Worlds. In return, the Knights have gained much from the Tech-priests, their worlds gradually returning to being technically sophisticated cultures. However, the relationship between Forge World and Knight World is not always an easy one, and nowhere is this more true than in the fraught relationship between the Knights and the Sacristans trained by the Adeptus Mechanicus to maintain their armour. The Horus Heresy The golden age of the Great Crusade was to be cut short by the supreme act of betrayal known as the Horus Heresy, during which the galaxy was gripped by the most bitter civil war humanity had ever seen. Across the nascent Imperium, rebels clashed with Loyalists for the fate of Mankind. Space Marines fought Space Marines, Titans fought Titans and, alongside them, Imperial Knights fought Imperial Knights. In those dark days, nobody was to be trusted and treachery was as much a part of warfare as Bolter shells, Volcano Cannons and Drop Pods. One of the most horrific betrayals of the war occurred on the planet of Molech. As the Warmaster Horus led his armies to Terra, he left a trail of destruction in his wake hundreds of light years wide. His forces seemed unstoppable as garrison after garrison fell before his might, or changed allegiance and sided with the traitorous commander. It was on the planet of Molech that one of the most determined stands was to be made. Loyalist Titan Legions and over a hundred Imperial Army regiments and knightly houses stood ready to bear the brunt of the Warmaster's attack in an attempt to halt his inexorable advance. When it came, it was like a hurricane unleashed upon the verdant world. Horus' initial assault devastated many cities and strongholds, and amongst the victims were Molech's rulers –- House Devine. Dispossessed and unable to fight back, the knightly house slowly succumbed to the temptations of Chaos. Over the following months, the insidious whisper of Slaanesh -– Dark Prince of Chaos and god of indulgence and excess –- spread through their depleted ranks. Their officers became lethargic, interested only in their sports, using their mighty Knight suits to hunt the towering reptilian beasts that stalked Molech's lush jungles. The seductive grip of Slaanesh grew stronger, as the Prince of Pleasure bent the force of his will to corrupting the noble Devines. Soon, they met in secret cabals, performing depraved rites and ceremonies within the heart of the Loyalist camp. No act was too shameful or disgusting; the sensations of the moment became their only desire. When Horus launched a massive offensive, the Knights of House Devine committed an act of brazen treachery and turned on the troops who remained loyal to the Emperor. The Imperial forces found themselves caught in a trap, with advancing Traitor Titans to the front and Renegade Knights attacking their ranks from behind. This treachery allowed the Chaos host to punch through the Imperial defences, leaving them with no line of retreat. They were totally defeated, so brutally that only one in a hundred of the troops of the Imperial Army surviving the campaign. Since that first betrayal, only a handful of knightly houses have been corrupted by Chaos, even when the Forge Worlds to which they owed fealty became part of the Dark Mechanicum. Presumably when the Warmaster was defeated, these Chaos-corrupted Knight Houses fled alongside the Traitor Legions into the Eye of Terror, where they remain to this day. A Legacy of Honour *'The Age of Terra (M1-M15)' - A combination of an enormous boom in population and Terra's rapidly-diminishing natural resources in the 3rd Millennium leaves humanity's birth planet on the brink of anarchy. As these problems increase in severity, Mankind begins to look farther afield -- towards the stars. Mars is the first planet to be terraformed and settled. Colonial expeditions to explore space beyond the boundaries of the Sol System meet with success. However, the settlements furthest from Terra are forced to become increasingly self-sufficient due to the limitations of sublight interstellar travel. *'The Age of Technology (M15-M25)' - STC technology is mastered by some of the greatest scientific minds in Mankind's history and heralds a golden era of discovery, innovation and expansion. By harnessing the other-worldy gifts of the human mutant psykers known as Navigators, Warp travel is developed, enabling starfaring ships to swiftly travel enormous distances across space. STC systems transform the way that new colony worlds are settled. The first Knight Worlds are established as human colonies begin to flourish on more than a million worlds across the galaxy. Towards the end of this remarkable era, the ever-increasing number of human psykers and an over-reliance on technology ultimately leads to the downfall of Mankind's glorious expansion, which descends into turmoil, anarchy and war. *'The Knights Stand Alone (c.M23)' - Influenced by the Thrones Mechanicum of their Knight suits, the aristocracy of the feudal societies established on each Knight World remain conservative and most are instinctively mistrustful of any psykers in their midst. As a result, many of the Knight Worlds resist the madness that grips so many other human colonies. Though daemonic possessions and devastating psychic backlashes do indeed threaten many Knight Worlds, the military strength of the Knights and their rigid societal organisations largely serve to protect them. The ancient records of many knightly houses bear reference to this troubled time, of Knights duelling gigantic Warp entities or battling knee-deep against an endless tide of daemons from beyond the veil of reality. *'The Age of Strife (M25-M30)' - Human worlds throughout the galaxy are isolated by Warp Storms of terrible ferocity. A disastrous age of suspicion and dread begins as internecine conflict tears human civilisation apart. Fear and superstition lead to a regression in Mankind's mastery of science and many technological marvels of the previous age are lost to paranoia and war. Aliens and daemons alike prey on humanity's vulnerability, and although many planets are subjugated or lost, the surviving Knight Worlds continue to stand firm through this turbulent time -- however, none do so without earning scars that linger to this day. *'The Emperor Arrives on Mars (c.M30)' - Knight Taymon Verticorda, of House Taranis, is the first representative of the Mechanicum to encounter the Emperor on His arrival on Mars. In His guise as the Omnissiah, the Emperor forges an auspicious alliance between Mars and the newly unified Terra that forms the backbone of his fledgling Imperium. This pact becomes known as the Treaty of Mars, otherwise known as the Treaty of Olympus Mons to the Mechanicum. Preparations are made for a great undertaking to reunite the lost worlds of Mankind. *'The Great Crusade Begins (798.M30)' *'The First of Many (c.850.M30)' - The Knight World of Chrysis is rediscovered. The Mechanicum uses its influence to claim exclusive trading rights with many of the Knight Worlds that are later found. Forge Worlds are established near mineral-rich Knight Worlds, and bonds of mutual respect and military support become commonplace between the Mechanicum and the knightly houses. *'The Horus Heresy (005-014.M31)' - In an act of staggering treason, the Warmaster Horus declares himself the rightful ruler of Mankind. The base treachery of the Emperor's favoured son shatters the newly founded Imperium and sets the galaxy aflame. Brother fights brother as fully half of the Space Marine Legions side with the Archtraitor Horus, alongside numerous Titan Legions and countless regiments of the Imperial Army. *'A Devine Treachery (009.M31)' - On the planet of Molech, the sudden defection of House Devine proves to be the pivotal factor in the defeat of the Loyalist forces seeking to halt Horus' relentless advance on Terra. As the Warmaster unleashes a massive coordinated assault, the planet's defenders are thrown into disarray when the plasma reactor of the ''Imperator'' Titan, Paragon of Terra, is destroyed. Thousands of Loyalists are immolated in a blinding flash as a miniature sun erupts from the Titan's core to leave a smoking crater half a mile wide. In the wake of the catastrophic blast, a spearhead of Traitor Titans marches through the gap in the Imperial lines. Caught between the treacherous Knights of House Devine and Horus' rampant forces, the shattered remnants of Molech's defenders are slaughtered without mercy. *'The Death of Traitors (c.M31)' - Horus lies dead at the hands of the Emperor. But so high is the cost of victory that many seek solace in hounding the fleeing Traitors across the stars rather than face the task of rebuilding the shattered Imperium. This campaign of vengeance is known as the Great Scouring. The surviving knightly houses with the strength to fight unanimously join in this crusade of retribution. Believing the honour of the many to be stained by the treachery of the few, the Imperial Knights hunt down the knightly houses that sided with Horus with extreme prejudice, seeking to redeem their tarnished reputation. Filled with righteous indignation, a combined strike force of Knights from Houses Cadmus, Terryn and Borgius annihilates the turncoats of House Devine as Imperial forces reclaim the Knight World of Molech. *'Defiance on Vorinth (544.M32)' - An Ork WAAAGH! of unprecedented scale sweeps into Imperial space. Hundreds of worlds are devastated before the Ork menace is finally defeated. Lying directly in the path of the enormous Greenskin armada, the Knight World of Vorinth is one of the first planets to fall. Though they fight bravely, the Knights of Houses Illius and Nero are impossibly outnumbered and die to the last in combat with the all-conquering Orks. With the main Greenskin host advancing on Adamant Keep -- the stronghold of House Illius -- the surviving Knights of both houses gather for one last charge. The Orks are totally unprepared for the sudden ferocity of the Knights' counterattack and suffer heavy losses as the Battle Cannons of the Knight Paladins blast smoking holes in the Ork lines. The Knights Errant take advantage of the stalling Ork assault to crash into their crude vehicle squadrons and carve them to ruin. Only when a mob of twenty Stompas rampages into the fray are the Knights finally overwhelmed. Twice, the solemn tolling of the Bell of Lost Souls is heard as Terra mourns the passing of the rulers of Houses Illius and Nero. *'The Aphex Wars (369.M34)' *'A Long-Awaited Return (784.M34)' - After more than a century of self-imposed exile as a Freeblade household detachment, the Agaron brothers return to the Knight World of Silverdawn after the death of their father. The siblings are welcomed back as heroes after the disastrous reign of their sire. Basilio, the eldest of the three, re-establishes trade with the nearby Forge Worlds of Estaban III and VII. *'The War of Recovery (104.M36)' - Twelve full houses of Imperial Knights accompany an expedition led by the Adeptus Mechanicus into the system of planets known as the Mortuam Chain. Despite the fighting against the region’s xenos overseers dragging on for more than a standard century, the campaign is ultimately a resounding success. Many human colonies are freed from alien servitude. This is an irrelevance to the Adeptus Mechanicus, compared to the priceless fragments of STC archeotech that are recovered. *'Betrayal (550.M37)' - The Occlusiad War, also known simply as the Occlusiad, is a major conflict that begins in 550.M37 on the northwestern fringe of the Segmentum Obscurus between the Imperium of Man and the Heretek known as the Blind King. For the first time in thousands of years, a knightly house betrays its oaths of loyalty, joining the Apostles of the Blind King to cause ruinous destruction across the northwestern fringe. Though the Blind King's rogue Tech-priests are eventually defeated, the traitorous Knights of House Drakon remain unaccounted for. *'The Hunt for Andronicus' *'Justice (986.M38)' - More than a thousand standard years after betraying their oaths of loyalty to the Imperium, the Traitor Knights of House Drakon re-emerge at the head of a twisted host of daemon machines created by the Dark Mechanicum. The Warp-forged monstrosities are finally defeated amid the desecrated ruins of the Forge World of Solemnium, after the Iron Hands Space Marine Chapter brings them to battle. However, it is the actions of a single Freeblade Knight that travels with the Space Marines that determine the course of the war. Known only as Justice, the Freeblade displays an incredible aptitude for destroying the Traitor Knights, earning seven confirmed kills during the course of the war. Rumours abound in the wake of the conflict of quite how the lone Knight achieved such a mastery of combat against others of his kind. Of their enigmatic ally's past, however, the Iron Hands would not speak. Despite some of House Drakon's Knights escaping Imperial reprisal, their strength is now greatly diminished. *'The Red Harvest of Dalanthe (888.M39)' - When a harvest moon hangs in the skies above Dalanthe, the agri-workers put the children's stories of the Gorehaunter to the back of their minds. Though many citizens deride him for it, the Freeblade Knight known as Vigilantus stands on silent guard at Dalanthe's High Templus for three long solar months. When a Warp breach opens during a riot in Executioner's Square, a goliath of brass and bone rampages out through the populace. It is met in battle by Vigilantus. Though the Knight is torn limb from limb, his last act is to decapitate the raging Lord of Skulls with a blast from his Thermal Cannon, banishing it back to the Warp for another thousand years. *'The Many Quests of Theodric the Wanderer (853-999.M40)' *'Not Even in Death (854.M40)' - A trio of Knights from House Krast join Space Marines from the Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter to defend the Mining World of Gorvax against a host of Eldar Ghost Warriors from Iyanden Craftworld. A Knight suit's Throne Mechanicum takes control after its pilot is slain by a xenos sniper, the echoes of spirits long dead guiding the unmanned Knight into battle once more. The Knight carves its way through countless wraithbone constructs before two Wraithknights, the largest and mightiest of the xenos walkers, finally bring it down in an epic duel of giant war machines. Though the Eldar are eventually defeated, victory on Gorvax does not belong to the living. *'First Contact (112.M41)' - The Imperium makes first contact with the Knight World of Kragh after a localised Warp Storm, which has been raging for over twenty millennia, finally abates. Though much of the planet's surviving technology is revealed to be incredibly archaic, the Knight suits remain in remarkable condition thanks to a long-lost piece of STC technology. Initial attempts to integrate Kragh into the Imperial fold are met with open hostility as the planet's two knightly houses react to the perceived threat with deadly force. Peace is finally brokered by Baron Jakobus, a venerable Knight Seneschal greatly respected by both houses -- but the fragile ceasefire is jeopardised almost immediately as a trio of Tech-adepts attempt to recover the priceless STC archeotech and return it to Mars. *'Sport for Commorragh (154.M41)' - A Dark Eldar raid captures a House Cadmus Knight for bloody sport in the arenas of Commorragh. He bravely duels the creations of the Haemonculi for thirty solar days before eventually being rendered down by three Engines of Pain. *'The Duel of the Crimson Glaives (178.M41)' - The Eldar assault the agri-moon of Tarvel III, destroying hab-complexes in the search for ancient artefacts. Three Freeblades band together to defend the beleaguered citizens and become known as the Crimson Glaives. As soon as the last Eldar raider is driven from the moon, the Knights vanish without trace. *'The Tarsok Incursion (230.M41)' - Knights of House Taranis battle a daemonic incursion on the world of Tarsok V, taking the fight to the towering Great Unclean One that leads the daemonic horde. Wading through a tide of Plaguebearers, Seneschal Halver's Knights advance on the corpulent horror while billowing clouds of flies sizzle against their Ion Shields and form drifts about their feet. The daemonic lord drowns one Knight in a tide of bile, and crushes two more beneath its weeping bulk. Yet the Knights' Reaper Chainswords carve through its rancid flesh and with a final, gurgling roar the Great Unclean One is banished. The remaining Daemons fade slowly from view, leaving the planet's surviving defenders to count the cost. *'Slaughter on the Fireplains (246.M41)' - Knights of House Raven crush WAAAGH! Smogbelcha on Voth amid geysers of geothermal flame, despite suffering heavy losses of their own. *'Disaster on Nalibraxis II (632.M41)' - During the Yoladrian Crusade, detachments from House Cadmus land upon the swamp world of Nalibraxis II. Marching in support of Catachan Jungle Fighters infantry regiments, the Knights are caught in a sorcerous ambush by forces of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion. With the Catachans dead or devolved into mindless Chaos Spawn, the remaining handful of Knights resolve to fight their way back to their extraction point. Power armoured automata and scuttling Daemon Engines surround them, yet the surviving nobles fight their way to freedom. After the battle, House Cadmus vows revenge upon the forces of the Thousand Sons, determined to expunge this stain upon their honour. *'Shadows Over Icnarus (784.M41)' - An ancient evil awakens on the Frontier World of Icnarus, human settlements vanishing one after another. Panic-stricken, its citizens retreat to the coastal city of Inmoran and a riot erupts around the planet's only spaceport. Rising from the sea, rusted metal warriors march into Inmoran killing all in their path, a blazing god of light at their fore. Just as all seems lost, a lone Imperial Knight appears. In a titanic struggle, the unknown Knight drives the invaders back into the sea and shatters the bindings of their god, sending it screaming into the ether. *'On The Trail of Traitors (883.M41)' - Three entire knightly houses join forces with the renowned tank ace, Commander Pask, and his Cadian 423rd Regiment to exterminate a Renegade Titan Legion. All of the Knights at Pask's disposal are deployed in one of the largest armoured conflicts in the Imperium's history. Knight Anthonis, of House Cadmus, wins much honour during the final battle, preventing Pask's Leman Russ Tank from being crushed beneath the mighty tread of the Traitor ''Warlord''-class Titan, Endless Hate, by blasting apart the war engine's descending leg scant moments before impact. Pask survives to lead his force to a great Imperial victory. *'Reawakening (975.M41)' - In the Vidar Sector, the Knight World of Avarris is almost overrun by Necrons from the Sautekh Dynasty. Reawakening from their long slumber deep below the planet's surface, the Necron legions emerge and immediately begin a campaign of mass genocide against the planet's human population. It is only the skill of the Knights, and the effectiveness of their Ion Shields at repelling the deadly firepower of the advanced Necron weaponry, that brings the massacres to a halt. Though many are slain in the fighting, Avarris' three knightly houses slowly gain the upper hand in the conflict. As the bitter fighting grinds on, embattled household detachments of Imperial Knights gradually begin to drive the Necron forces back to their tomb complexes, and set about destroying them in their lairs. *'The Dragon Slain (993.M41)' - Segmentum Command dispatches a relief force to evacuate Yorvith before it can be overrun by Hive Fleet Kraken. At their head ride a lance of Knights Errant from House Griffith, whose thunderous charge scatters the xenos swarms around Solartis spaceport. As battle rages and refugees flood aboard the evacuation ships, a Trygon erupts from the ground and winds itself around Sir Brannach's Knight. The noble Knight wrestles with the mighty bio-horror amid showers of sparks, before jamming his Thermal Cannon between its jaws and vapourising its skull in a spray of ichor. The evacuation craft take to the skies just minutes later, Griffith's Knights limping aboard the last ship moments before its ramp slams shut. *'The Battle of Burning Skies (998.M41)' - A tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan falls upon the Agri-World of Eireius, xenos bio-horrors rampaging across its floating jungles and vapour islands. A detachment of House Raven Knights are the first Imperial reinforcements to reach the planet, rallying the beleaguered defenders around the towering Eirebian spire-cities. In the micro-gravity of Eireius the Knights leap hundreds of metres from one spire to the next, their guns hammering Harpies and Hive Crones from the sky. Even the might of the Imperial Knights cannot save the planet, although their bravery buys time for its population to escape into the void. *'The Red WAAAGH! (443.998.M41)' - Warlord Grukk of the Red WAAAGH! ploughs into the densely populated Sanctus Reach, his crusade's juggernaut momentum smashing past the Space Marine homeworld of Obstiria to plunder the planets beyond. The Imperium prepares to make a stand upon Alaric Prime, a Feudal World of linked archipelagos and crumbling gaols. When a flotilla of Ork rust-ships make planetfall, the knightly houses of Alaric lead their Cadian allies in a worldwide counterattack. Warlord Grukk's bullish tactics take a heavy toll on the human defenders before the legendary Freeblade known as Gerantius, the Forgotten Knight, joins the conflict, tipping the war into a new phase of desperate battle. *'A Blade in the Void (512.999.M41)' - A Chaos wolf pack attacks the Imperial heavy transport Penitent Blade while en route to the war zones of Heloeum. When the vessel is boarded, the nobles of House Krast mount their Knight suits and prepare to repel the Traitor Space Marines. In the vast vaulted cargo halls of the ship, the Knights crush the Traitors underfoot and blast apart their vanguard of Terminators and Helbrutes. When a fresh wave of Chaos boarders are sent against the Penitent Blade, the nobles order the cargo hall doors opened, so they might engage the incoming assault boats. Their craft scattered and destroyed, the Traitors retreat into the void. *'The Fall of Agrellan (757.999.M41)' - The Tau Empire's Third Sphere Expansion surges through the Damocles Gulf before striking hard and fast upon the Hive World of Agrellan. Though the Imperial forces are hard-pressed to counter the brilliant tactics employed by Commander Shadowsun, the timely arrival of several household detachments of Knights from House Terryn soon stems the tide. Time and again, the Knights sally forth from the hive city of Agrellan Prime, breaking through the xenos lines to take a heavy toll on formations of Broadside Battlesuits and Hammerhead gunships, using their Ion Shields to counter the devastating impacts of the Tau's rail weaponry. Only the mass deployment of prototype Riptide Battlesuits forces the Knights to cease these attacks, a course of action that ultimately changes the course of the war. *'The 13th Black Crusade (995.999.M41)' - Houses Krast and Arokon join the Imperial forces rushing to reinforce the Cadian Gate against the Chaos hordes spewing forth from the Eye of Terror. The inbound Knights of House Arokon are feared lost amid the fierce etheric tides of Warp Storm Baphomael. However, news soon filters back to the Imperium that four household detachments of Knights bearing Arokon's colours have been seen taking the fight to the Forces of Chaos, shattering two large formations of Iron Warriors siege tanks with righteous fury. Notable Knight Worlds Sources *''Codex: Imperial Knights'' (6th Edition), pp. 13-14, 19-21, 23-24, 28-29, 42-44, 47, 52, 60, 64, 70, 82 *''The Imperial Knight Companion'' (6th Edition) *''The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest'', pp. 19, 27, 66, 70, 75, 97-98, 114, 117, 122-125, 131 *''The Horus Heresy - Book Two: Massacre'', pp. 156-157 *''Titan Legions'' (2nd Edition), pp. 27-30, 54 *''White Dwarf Weekly'' Issue #5 (March 01, 2014) (UK) , "Codex: Imperial Knights", pp. 5-51, 29, 62-65, 67-68, 73 *''White Dwarf Weekly'' Issue #4 (February 22, 2014) (UK) , "Imperial Knight" by Jervis Johnson, pp. 5-15, 28-33, 52-58 *''White Dwarf Magazine'' 178 (UK), "The Titan Legions," by Rick Priestly Category:K Category:Adeptus Mechanicus Category:Imperium Category:Planets